I’ve mentioned this before. Ask your friend, “For the sake of argument, let’s say we ‘stole’ the land. Both sides of today’s border for hundreds of miles in either direction looked exactly the same. What the Hell did the Mexicans do with what we let them keep? We turned or side into a generator of wealth and good living for its citizens. Mexico has turned theirs into a corrupt crime-ridden Hellhole that people risk their lives to get away from. You tell me which is better.” (Use that confrontational manner - it shocks them. They are used to people looking guikty at that charge.)
i’ve always gotten some throat-clearing, foot-shuffling and lame comments like “Well, it’s just not right.”
A year or so back the History channel ran a pretty good series about the mess.
Basically Mexico’s claim to the American southweast consisted of scattered farmers who were left here as placeholders to fend for themselves and fight off constant attacks from the Indians. The Mexican government all but forgot about them and many hadn’t seen a mexican soldier in years.
The Americans showed up and brought stability, defense against and treaties with the Indians, not to mention the most modern technology. Basically made their lives better. The mexicans living here happily accepted American rule and later citizenship. The story was much the same throughout northern current day Mexico. We made a big mistake in Giving it back in my opinion.